The Swiss group supporting the Colombian Truth Commission (Nodo Suiza) was formed at the beginning of 2019, after several sensitisation meetings promoted by the Commission together with the International Catalan Institute for Peace (ICIP). Currently, there are seven volunteers in charge of collecting the testimonies given by Colombian exiles in the four linguistic regions that make up the Swiss Confederation. These volunteers were trained by the Commission in methodological workshops, focusing on interview compilation techniques, information management, and special psychosocial care for the victims who give their testimony. Nodo Suiza also participates in the structuring of international activities and promotes several initiatives to strengthen recognition and visibility of the Colombian exiles as one of the measures of integral reparation to the victims, through access to the truth.

With the financial support of the Federal Department of Foreign Affairs of the Swiss Confederation, Swisspeace has acted as a facilitator and supporting agent for the work of the Colombian Commission in Switzerland, since the beginning of its clarification phase. Swisspeace is a Swiss foundation that promotes peace worldwide. Together with Nodo Suiza and as a contribution to the implementation of the peace process in Colombia, the foundation has promoted various sensitisation, informational, pedagogical, and dissemination activities on the importance of the elaboration of the final report to be produced by the Commission.

Compared to other Truth Commissions in the world, Colombia is a pioneer in integrating Colombians in exile and the migrant population as key, but invisible, actors in this process of rebuilding the truth about what happened in the country throughout over 50 years of internal armed conflict. This is why Nodo Suiza, made up mostly of Colombian political exiles, works together with associations representing the Colombian community in Switzerland and locally, to promote the Commission’s mission and activities.